DOI Heft:
No. 103 (October, 1901)
DOI Artikel:Bate, Percy H.: Old English glasses
DOI Seite / Zitierlink: https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.19874#0059
Old English Glasses
OLD ENGLISH GLASSES : GROUP 5
On examining such glasses as those in group 2 we
see the beauty and we feel the utility of bosses or
knobs on the stems ; surely our glass workers of
to-day have taste and skill enough to produce
objects just as graceful as the first glass in group 4?
But not only do we find variety of form in these
stems, colour was used also, for besides white
threads, bands of tinted glass were sparsely intro-
duced into the later twists with excellent effect;
green, red and white, and blue, chocolate and white
were used, as were, of course, the simpler blue
and white and red and white: and duly displayed
upon a white damask-adorned dinner-table their
appearance is very delicate and pleasing. Here
again is an idea for our glasses of to-day. With
regard to the later development, the cutting of
the stems, but little need be said ; there is at
present a reaction (reasonably enough) against
the cut-glass monstrosities of the early Victorian
epoch, but at the same time it must not be for-
gotten that cutting, judiciously employed, adds
lightness and brilliancy to any pellucid material
such as glass.
Proceeding from the stems to the bowls, we
notice again the great variety of forms—bells,
cups, double cups, square bowls, waisted bowls,
straight-sided bowls, bowls ribbed and writhen,
each with an appropriate stem. What could be
prettier for champagne than the centre glasses in
groups 1 and 7 ? One of these is an old ale
glass, but that in group 1 may have been originally
intended for a sparkling wine; certainly they are
just as graceful and as pleasant to use as the
saucers on stems that are the fashion to-day;
and if we compare the smaller glasses in groups
1 and 2 with the average sherry or claret glass,
which suffers by the comparison ? But not only
on the form of the bowls did our ancestors
expend their fancy; they decorated them in
various ways, engraving, enamelling, and gilding
them, as in the examples reproduced in group 5,
the engraving being sometimes quite simple,
while in other instances it approaches gem-
cutting in quality and brilliance; and this
method of decoration, as well as the enamelling
and the gilding, is generally used in a simple,
conventional style that is eminently pleasing.
It is true that occasionally one finds bowls
enamelled with little landscapes, hunting or
skating scenes, that are very quaint and pretty,
although not necessarily objects to be copied.
But though our taste in decoration may be a
little severer to-day than it was a century ago,
the method is excellent, and a flowing pattern of
vine-leaves or conventional roses, for example, in
opaque white, or even delicately tinted enamels,
might be a very charming addition to a gracefully
formed glass.
Speaking of the glasses with hunting scenes
reminds one that our forefathers had also a pretty
custom of placing inscriptions or emblems, toasts
or portraits, upon their glasses. Sometimes there
OLD ENGLISH GLASSES : GROUP 6
47
OLD ENGLISH GLASSES : GROUP 5
On examining such glasses as those in group 2 we
see the beauty and we feel the utility of bosses or
knobs on the stems ; surely our glass workers of
to-day have taste and skill enough to produce
objects just as graceful as the first glass in group 4?
But not only do we find variety of form in these
stems, colour was used also, for besides white
threads, bands of tinted glass were sparsely intro-
duced into the later twists with excellent effect;
green, red and white, and blue, chocolate and white
were used, as were, of course, the simpler blue
and white and red and white: and duly displayed
upon a white damask-adorned dinner-table their
appearance is very delicate and pleasing. Here
again is an idea for our glasses of to-day. With
regard to the later development, the cutting of
the stems, but little need be said ; there is at
present a reaction (reasonably enough) against
the cut-glass monstrosities of the early Victorian
epoch, but at the same time it must not be for-
gotten that cutting, judiciously employed, adds
lightness and brilliancy to any pellucid material
such as glass.
Proceeding from the stems to the bowls, we
notice again the great variety of forms—bells,
cups, double cups, square bowls, waisted bowls,
straight-sided bowls, bowls ribbed and writhen,
each with an appropriate stem. What could be
prettier for champagne than the centre glasses in
groups 1 and 7 ? One of these is an old ale
glass, but that in group 1 may have been originally
intended for a sparkling wine; certainly they are
just as graceful and as pleasant to use as the
saucers on stems that are the fashion to-day;
and if we compare the smaller glasses in groups
1 and 2 with the average sherry or claret glass,
which suffers by the comparison ? But not only
on the form of the bowls did our ancestors
expend their fancy; they decorated them in
various ways, engraving, enamelling, and gilding
them, as in the examples reproduced in group 5,
the engraving being sometimes quite simple,
while in other instances it approaches gem-
cutting in quality and brilliance; and this
method of decoration, as well as the enamelling
and the gilding, is generally used in a simple,
conventional style that is eminently pleasing.
It is true that occasionally one finds bowls
enamelled with little landscapes, hunting or
skating scenes, that are very quaint and pretty,
although not necessarily objects to be copied.
But though our taste in decoration may be a
little severer to-day than it was a century ago,
the method is excellent, and a flowing pattern of
vine-leaves or conventional roses, for example, in
opaque white, or even delicately tinted enamels,
might be a very charming addition to a gracefully
formed glass.
Speaking of the glasses with hunting scenes
reminds one that our forefathers had also a pretty
custom of placing inscriptions or emblems, toasts
or portraits, upon their glasses. Sometimes there
OLD ENGLISH GLASSES : GROUP 6
47